So you have made the decision to rent out your property – congratulations!
Here are a few tips and tricks to help you transition your property into a rental.
Getting Your Property Ready To Rent
Our Guide To Getting Rent Ready
Re-key the locks
Now is a great time to re-key the locks to all external doors and preferably with one key that will work them all.
Get any niggly maintenance done that as a property owner you live with
E.g. tighten kitchen cupboards and window hinges, replace the faded or old shower curtain, replace bulbs with energy efficient ones and install new (compliant) smoke alarms.
Get the carpets shampooed.
Service the heat pump and sweep the chimney
The property manager can then schedule the servicing annually from there.
Spruce up the gardens and put down bark or mulch to minimise weeds. Prune trees and trim bushes
Don’t forget to take away all pots and garden ornaments.
Clean the windows inside and out.
Replace any old/mouldy/faded curtains
With a cost effective neutral colour option from Briscoes, The Warehouse or Kmart – make sure you buy curtains with the fabric backing so they can be washed in the machine by the tenants should they want/need to. Curtains with the plastic backing deteriorate and stick together when it is too sunny – not ideal when you try to close the curtains and they are falling apart before your very eyes.
Tenants LOVE a handy info pack.
You could include rubbish collection information, bus timetable, neighbours’ names and any tips/tricks/quirks that come with the house.
Compliance
The Healthy Homes standards introduced specific and minimum standards for heating, insulation, ventilation, moisture ingress and drainage, and draught stopping in rental properties.
All private rentals must comply within 90 days of any new or renewed tenancy after 1 July 2021, with all private rentals complying by 1 July 2024.
Rent Ready can arrange for an assessment if you are unsure that your property complies.
Insurance
Consider getting landlord insurance, it will give you peace of mind to cover yourself for tenant related risks like loss of rent, accidental and deliberate damage to your property or furnishings.
Landlords must provide insurance information on a new tenancy agreement including whether or not the property is insured, the excess amount of any relevant policies and a statement informing tenants that the insurance policy is available on request.
Please see here for more information – https://www.tenancy.govt.nz/starting-a-tenancy/new-to-tenancy/insurance/